%²%²%% Please do not replace the character names with Linkara's Fan Nicknames. This page is about the work, not his review. Also avoid liberal sprinklings of "goddamn" or "age 12."²%²%²[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/all-star_batman_and_robin_the_boy_wonder_1728.jpg]]²[[caption-width-right:350:A.K.A. ''The Goddamn Batman (or [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Crazy Steve]]) and Dick Grayson, Age Twelve'']]²²->''"What, are you '''dense'''? Are you '''retarded''' or something? Who the hell do you '''think''' I am? [[MemeticMutation I'm the Goddamn]] '''[[MemeticBadass Batman]]'''."''²--> -- '''[[SelfDemonstratingArticle The Goddamn Batman]]'''²²The original ''ComicBook/AllStarDCComics'' title. Ran from 2005 until 2008. When DC announced the book it was widely anticipated as Creator/FrankMiller's return to the site of two of his greatest books -- ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'' and ''ComicBook/BatmanYearOne'', this time with the tale of Robin's origin, and illustrated by Jim Lee.²²The series was infamous for, among other things, [[ScheduleSlip having an erratic release schedule]]. After the run came to an end[[note]]As in no new issues were published, not that [[CutShort the story itself had been completed]][[/note]], it was announced in 2010 that Frank Miller would write a ContinuityReboot called ''Dark Knight: Boy Wonder'' that would go on for 6 issues and [[AuthorsSavingThrow compile the story that he wanted to tell originally]]. More than a decade later, there's still no word on [[DevelopmentHell when exactly this series will arrive.]]²²Not to be confused with Creator/ScottSnyder's 2016 series ''[[http://www.newsarama.com/28600-rebirth-q-a-scott-snyder-on-all-star-batman.html All-Star Batman]]'', which Snyder heavily emphasizes has nothing to do with this.²----²!!This goddamn comic provides examples of:²* AdaptationalJerkass: ²** In this series, Batman is depicted as enjoying violence and inflicting pain, in contrast to his usual depiction. Then there's his treatment of Dick Grayson.²** Superman is much more quick to anger than the usual calm mild-mannered depiction. There's also his reaction to hearing that Batman has kidnapped Dick being more concerned about the authorities taking action against the Justice League rather than the boy's safety. He also threatens to kill Wonder Woman if she attempts to kill Batman.²** Wonder Woman is also depicted with an ''overt'' hatred of men in this setting. Her first scene has her angrily pushing her way past a civilian man on the street whilst calling him a "sperm bank". The rest of her dialogue and inner thoughts shows that she seems to view men in general as worthless. The one exception is [[AllAmazonsWantHercules Superman]]. Her reaction to Batman's actions is to suggest ''killing him and handing his head over to the authorities''. And no, she wasn't kidding about that.²* AdaptationalNationality: Black Canary becomes Irish.²* TheAdjectivalSuperhero: DC finally gets its own one of these: The Goddamn Batman!²* AllAmazonsWantHercules: ²** Franchise/WonderWoman ''really'' hates men. That is, all men except {{Franchise/Superman}}. After the two get into an argument, Supes stomps on the ground hard enough that it knocks her over. This ''[[SlapSlapKiss turns her on]]'' and leads to the two making out.²** The same goes for Black Canary and her feelings for Batman himself.²* AllThereInTheManual:²** The story makes more sense as a sequel to ''ComicBook/BatmanYearOne'' when you read issue #10 and some plot points, such as Batman's relationship with Green Lantern, become very interesting when compared to ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightStrikesAgain''. Also confirmed by WordOfGod is that the series is in the same universe as ''The Dark Knight Returns''.²** Interestingly enough, Miller has also noted that he never ''intended'' for Batman to be seen as truly "heroic" in this arc (quite the opposite), until near the end, where Batman tones down (with Robin's help) to become the "moral" Batman we all know.²* AntiHero: Batman and ComicBook/BlackCanary. Black Canary savagely beats up a bar full of men for rude behavior and steals their wallets, and Batman is a psychotic lunatic who brutalizes anyone in his way, even if they didn't do anything. They are the good guys of the story.²* AscendedMeme: Starting with Issue 6, Frank started slipping in references to "the Goddamn Batman". Well, less "slip" and more [[ForcedMeme "spraypaint 'goddamn' all over the goddamn place".]]²* AuthorAppeal: Some of the more hostile criticisms regarding ''All Star Batman and Robin'' claim that the whole thing was used by Miller to vicariously live out his personal Batman [[WishFulfillment fantasy]]; citing the disregard for Batman's moral code [[spoiler:(especially during the scene where he rescues Robin from corrupt cops; never mind that he takes pleasure in harming them; but also nearly kills both Alfred and Vicki Vale in the process)]], the over-the top fan service, as well as his less than flattering portrayals of most of the other Justice League (particularly Superman and Green Lantern).²* AuthorAvatar: It's pretty clear that the Goddamn Batman is how Miller sees himself if he were Batman.²* ButtMonkey: Franchise/GreenLantern exists pretty much to be humiliated and insulted by Batman, then gets his neck injured by Robin so Batman gets to save his life.²* BelatedBackstory: For Dick Grayson in ''The Dark Knight Strikes Again''²* BigBad: The Joker is ultimately responsible for the murder of Robin's parents. ²* CharacterDevelopment: Batman starts out completely insane and isolated but is ''slowly'' becoming more human thanks to the influence of Dick. Miller himself has stated that this was the entire point: to explain why Batman needed a kid sidekick, anyway--to bring him back down to earth after a period of having too much fun with his crime-fighting. However, it rings pretty hollow when it's in issue seven (''years'' into the series thanks to ScheduleSlip) of a twelve-issue miniseries that that infamous bleach incident takes place. Far from ascending to herodom and influencing Batman to regain his humanity, Dick Grayson has yet to take up the Robin mantle and was last seen being very impressed by all the deadly weaponry he was surrounded by. Meanwhile, Batman is deliberately burning crooks to death and enjoying it, while the equally derailed Black Canary swoons over him because apparently that's sexy. And whenever Dick comes up in his narration, it's pretty much always with a "stuck with an annoying kid" comment as if he wasn't the one who ''kidnapped him''.²* ClusterFBomb / SirSwearsALot: Almost every character talks like this, even the 15-year-old Batgirl. ''Especially'' the 15-year-old fucking Batgirl.²* ContinuityNod: There are several to other Dark Knight Universe stories.²** DKR's Battank being built in the Batcave.²** The Batcave is full of these. Besides the aforementioned Bat-Tank, there are:²*** The Bat-Glider from ''ComicBook/BatmanYearOne'',²*** The Bat-Copter from ''The Dark Knight Returns'',²*** The Bat-Shield Batmobile,²*** The 60s Show Batmobile,²*** And the Batwing from the 'Hush' storyline, also pencilled by Jim Lee.²** Joker's henchgirl Bruno and Batman saying the ''We have to be Criminals'' line.²** Also, Batman's character is identical to Frank Miller's in ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'', save for him being 20-30 years younger. When TDKR came out, the story seemed to imply it was the decades of superheroing that turned Batman into this sour, cynical person. This story retcons that into Batman having started out as ''more'' of a jerkass than in TDKR and growing more noble, responsible and humane as he grew old, probably thanks to Dick Grayson's influence. This is a bit ironic if you consider that Grayson [[spoiler:is revealed to be a complete psychopath in TDKSA. During their climatic battle, he implies that Bruce's negligence and lack of affection drove him insane. Miller's Batman predictably scoffs and pushes him into hot lava.]]²** A subtle one is on the cover of the first issue, with Batman swinging over Gotham. His face is blacked out with only his eyes visible, similar to the covers for ''The Dark Knight Returns'' collected editions.²** Gordon's story about taking a baseball bat to Flass occurs in ''ComicBook/BatmanYearOne'', though [[BadassNormal not the way he makes it sound]].²* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: An odd example occurs with Green Arrow, since although the story takes place ''before'' ''The Dark Knight Returns'', it features several notable characters from said story (Superman, Catwoman, the Joker, Bruno), yet Oliver Queen himself is nowhere to be seen[[note]]unless the random patron from Black Canary's bar that resembles him is supposed to be him[[/note]]. This is strange, especially when one considers that characters who didn't appear until ''The Dark Knight Strikes Again'' (Wonder Woman, Plastic Man) get rather prominent roles in this story.²* ContinuitySnarl:²** Even at his most pumped up, no holds barred, extreme moment in ''The Dark Knight Returns'', Batman couldn't bring himself to kill the Joker. In ''ASBAR'' he killed crooked cops without hesitation (sometimes plowing through and utterly destroying police cars with ''no way to know'' they were all crooked. He's also quite pleased with crooks killing each other in crossfires, and finishes off the rest by setting them ON FIRE.) This is a guy who places ZERO value on human life.²** Batman rants to Robin about how he can call his "Batmobile" whatever he wants. In ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'' Batman muses that it was Robin who came up with the term.²** Barbara Gordon's existence. The story explicitly takes place a few years after the Joker's first appearance, which happened right at the end of ''ComicBook/BatmanYearOne''. In that story, the Gordons don't have any kids, with Jim even lamenting that it'd be wrong to bring a child into Gotham. Given Barbara's age, it's impossible that she was born after James. It's possible that she's Jim's niece in this version, but given that the series plays on the Silver Age quite a bit, it's more than likely she's his biological daughter and there's some snarl in effect.²* CoversAlwaysLie: Issue 8 shows the Joker holding Batman's cowl. In the issue itself, Batman never even meets the Joker, much less fight him, and if said cover was supposed to be {{Foreshadowing}}, it went nowhere for reasons mentioned below.²* CrapsackWorld: Usually true in a Batman story, but much ''much'' more so here.²* CutShort: The entire series. Issues #11 and #12 are likely never going to come out, and DC has been saying for years they'll reboot and finish the series with nothing concrete to back up the claims.²* DarkerAndEdgier: Attempted (maybe parodied?) throughout the series, though the worst has to be the scowling, humorless hitman now claiming his people have sarcastically nicknamed him the Joker.²-->'''Joker:''' They call me the Joker. But I'm not very funny.²* ADayInTheLimelight: Issue 10 is mostly done from Lt. Jim Gordon's point of view.²* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment:²** [[SignatureStyle Very often throughout the text. Again and again. There is repetition. Statements are made. Repeated. Hammered. Insistent. Again and again. Relentless. Tireless. Repeatedly. Again and again.]][[note]][[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] accurately compares the dialogue to [[Film/ManosTheHandsofFate Torgo's]] VerbalTic.[[/note]]²** Dick Grayson. Age 12.²--->'''Vicki Vale:''' [[HarmfulToMinors Someone murdered his parents. Right before his eyes.]] [[RealisticDictionIsUnrealistic Brutally. Brutally. It was brutal.]]²* ForgotAboutHisPowers:²** Frank Miller probably hasn't seen that the modern Green Lantern is perfectly capable of dealing with a yellow room.²** Batman speculating that he could make people think his way with Green Lantern's ring... that's not how it works.²* FreudianExcuse: [[spoiler:12-year old Dick Grayson]]'s evil in ''The Dark Knight Strikes Again'' is so understandable now.²* GoshDangitToHeck: Since Superman and the Green Lantern are boy scouts compared to everyone else, their dialogue comes off as even sillier than the {{Cluster F Bomb}}s. Although Superman's only line in his first few appearances is "DAMN!"²* HaveAGayOldTime: "Queer" ''did'' originally mean strange, as the word is used in this comic, and in the original comics, Batman taking in Robin ''did'' occur in TheForties (which is when that story was written.) However, there's no sign that this comic is supposed to take place so long ago, so that's really no excuse.²* HeelRealization: Batman actually seems to be on the way to one of these for a moment, but dismisses it and we're right back to crazy town for the rest of the series.²--->'''Batman:''' What am I doing to this kid? [[IronicEcho Who the hell do I think I am]]?"²* HeroicComedicSociopath: The Goddamn Batman and Black Canary. Batgirl and Robin are Heroic Comedic Sociopaths-in-training.²* HotterAndSexier: Much more blatant {{Fanservice}} than is usual in comic books, including a beautifully drawn make-out session in the rain between costumed Black Canary and Batman ("The costumes make it better" line might be a reference to ''{{ComicBook/Watchmen}}'': we refer the reader to that book's page for the explanation of why this is so: suffice to say, it's not simply a fetish).²* IdiotBall: Green Lantern accepts Batman's offer to meet at a time and place of Bats' choosing, instead of just picking him up with his ring and keeping him manacled with it til he spills the beans.²* ImmediateSelfContradiction: Not exactly immediate, but in one issue, the Goddamn Batman calls Green Lantern a moron, then soon after says Green Lantern is a great man.²** He also laments revealing one of his safehouses to GL and dismisses it as no loss because he has so many, all in one thought balloon.²* InNameOnly: Pretty much ''everyone'' is insanely OutOfCharacter, but Black Canary is given an entirely new backstory and motivation, turning from a LegacyCharacter of her mother into an Irish immigrant from a [[MassiveNumberedSiblings large family]] working at a sleazy bar, who was inspired into crime-fighting ([[SociopathicHero and, well, crime]]) by Batman. ²* InTheStyleOf: A rather easy-to-miss aspect of the artwork is Jim Lee's attempts to emulate Frank Miller's art style. While he doesn't devolve into the blocky, splotchy distortions Miller believe human beings look like, he nonetheless utilizes poses similar to those found back in ''The Dark Knight Returns'', most notably the signature gritted-teeth Batman scowl from that same story.²* InsistentTerminology: The series makes ''sure'' you know Dick Grayson is age twelve.²* {{Jerkass}}: Everybody but Superman, Alfred and Robin is some kind of a jerkass.²* KudzuPlot: The DrivingQuestion of the series is who had Dick's parents murdered, and when it's revealed to be the Joker, the question becomes why, and along the way Dick becomes Batman's sidekick as Robin. Not only do we never learn why his parents were murdered, there are no hints as to why either. Along the way we get Black Canary and Batgirl being inspired to take up vigilantism by Batman, the Justice League contacting him and Batman stealing Green Lantern's Power Ring, the Joker hatching some unknown scheme with Catwoman that apparently involves her being brutalized and left for the police to find and direct Batman to, and some subplot involving the police of Gotham being corrupt and wanting to silence Dick from speaking out about the murders. Even with the series being CutShort, it's questionable how all of these plotlines could have been wrapped up in a satisfactory manner in just two more issues.²* LargeHam: This Batman is a far cry from [[TheStoic the Batman we usually know]]. This Batman's dialogue is incredibly bombastic (case in point: [[MemeticMutation "I'm the Goddamn Batman!"]]), frequently shown [[SlasherSmile grinning in maniacal glee]], throws one-liners like there's no tomorrow whenever he's in a fight and even [[CallingYourAttacks announces himself]] by [[EvilLaugh cackling like a lunatic]].²* LingerieScene: Vicki Vale's first appearance is three pages of her parading around her apartment in pink lingerie and high heels. Doubles as SexSells. Some editions feature Miller's script for this scene, which gets pretty disturbing as he goes on and on about how detailed her underwear should be, and even calls himself shameless when he asks for a closeup of her ass.²* MaleGaze: ²** Frank Miller specifically made a point of having artist Jim Lee draw a detailed shot of Vicki Vale's ass. As rendered in the script: "[[PerverseSexualLust Okay, I'm shameless, let's go for the ASS SHOT]]" (caps in original).²** Then there's Franchise/WonderWoman's ass on the alt cover of #5.²* MsFanservice: Vicki Vale. To make that point even more blunt, her first ever appearance in the story has her standing in her apartment talking about Batman... wearing nothing but pink lingerie.²* MoodWhiplash²** Issue 9 was when Batman meets Green Lantern in a yellow room, at first is incredibly funny (DAMN YOU AND YOUR LEMONADE!!) and when Robin starts fighting Green Lantern it's still hilarious and Batman is in on the joke but the fun stops abruptly with a splash page of Robin [[spoiler:punching Green Lantern in the throat, almost killing him if it weren't for Batman]]. Then it's followed by a crowning moment of Heartwarming.²** In universe and out, Batman and Canary have been making out under the rain and "[[Comicbook/{{Watchmen}} under the hood]]", when Batman mentions he can drive her home... in his Batmobile. Canary shows disappointment with her idol's naming choice. Which instantly kills the mood for everyone involved, including the readership, because this (Goddamn) Batman is ''really touchy'' about his stuff and his person not being as awesome as he thinks it is.²* MythologyGag: ²** One of Black Canary's sleazy customers strongly resembles [[ComicBook/GreenArrow Oliver Queen]].²** Dick initially wants to be an archery-themed superhero called The Hood, a nod to his father's love of the old ''RobinHood'' movies. In real life, the 1938 film ''Film/TheAdventuresOfRobinHood'' was one of the inspirations behind the creation of Robin.²* NeverMyFault: Several moments in the story have Goddamned Batman repeatedly blame Dick Grayson, age 12, for coming into his life and becoming his sidekick, [[SelfServingMemory completely ignoring the fact]] that he's the one who abducted the boy against his will in the first place.²* OnlySaneMan:²** Alfred finds himself making crazy suggestions.²--->'''Alfred:''' Maybe we shouldn't force [Dick] to ''survive by eating rats''.²** Green Lantern too. Pity he's also the ButtMonkey.²* PeepingTom: Happens when Jimmy Olsen visits Vicki Vale in the hospital. The reader is [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment repeatedly informed by the narration boxes]] that Jimmy doesn't watch, but he is [[UnreliableNarrator clearly shown turning his head]] near the bottom of the page.²* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Anyone who is not the Goddamn Batman or disagrees with what he's doing is ineffectual, stupid, and/or evil. Anyone who ''is'' the Goddamn Batman or agrees with his methods is heroic and awesome.²* PsychopathicManchild: In addition to the joy he takes in violence, the Goddamn Batman has the temperament of a child, getting incredibly moody and angry whenever someone isn't impressed with his cave or gadgets. Possibly done as a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]] of Batman. ''We hope.''²* RefugeInAudacity: Black Canary is a barmaid who wears a {{stripperiffic}} outfit as part of her job. One night, the accumulated tension of unattractive men hitting on her in the most vulgar way wears her patience so thin she is ready to explode. Then one of them actually gropes her. She snaps, and beats the everliving crap out everyone, to unconsciousness. She makes a point of making one of them swallow his wedding ring, for obvious reasons. She loots their bodies. She torches the place. She runs away on a motorbike by jumping over a ramp and into the air. Coincidentally, Detective Gordon's car was passing right under. He brushes it off, saying they've got bigger things to worry about. As a matter of fact, he is right. Allstar Gotham is only marginally less insane than ''ComicBook/SinCity''.²* RunningGag: The Batmobile being a "queer name" for a car. Lampshaded in hilarious fashion.²-->'''Batman:''' Not one ''word.'' I've taken ''enough'' grief about calling my goddamn car the goddamn Batmobile. I'm the goddamn ''Batman'' and I can call my goddamn car whatever the hell I ''want'' to call it.²* SceneryPorn: One of the few good, not SoBadItsGood, things about the series. Though he can't do anything about the terrible writing, Jim Lee [[TookTheBadFilmSeriously took the bad comic seriously]] and turned in some truly amazing work. ²* SlasherSmile: Not from [[ComicBook/TheJoker the guy you'd expect]], but Batman himself, to Creator/GoNagai levels!²* SplashPanel: The Batcave is introduced in a six-page spread.²* StalkerWithoutACrush: Batman says he'd been scoping out Dick Grayson, age 12, as a sidekick for ''months'' before his parents were even killed. ²* StartOfDarkness: An unintentional one for [[spoiler:''Dark Knight Strikes Again'''s Dick Grayson]].²* StrawFeminist: Wonder Woman, who is introduced shoving a guy out of her way while growling "Out of my way, sperm bank." [[AllAmazonsWantHercules It seems she's mostly unsatisfied by men's failure to live up to her expectations, rather than actually claiming superiority or even equality as a woman]]: men are overhyped, weaker than they are supposed to be, than they should be. Superman proves to be a subversion: his boy-scout, simple morals clash with her pragmatism and warrior ethos, but he has the power, strength, and intimidation to enforce his law, and that ''really turns her on''.²* StupidGood:²** Green Lantern and Superman both come off this way, more out of ignorance than actual stupidity.²** And in Creator/FrankMiller stories, the Goddamn Batman is always goddamn right. '''Always.'''²* TakeThat: Frank Miller has stated in interviews that he thinks Green Lantern is worthless, ''and it shows''. Which is curious, [[FlipFlopOfGod considering he wrote Hal as arguably the noblest character]] in ComicBook/TheDarkKnightStrikesAgain.²* TestosteronePoisoning: Creator/FrankMiller grade, triple distilled.²* ThoseWackyNazis: The Joker's muscular, shirtless henchwoman. With swastika pasties over her breasts. It's a ContinuityNod to a minor character in ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns''.²* TrainingFromHell: Clearly what the Goddamn Batman intended for Robin.²* TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot:²** [[http://www.i-mockery.com/comics/longbox7/default.php The Goddamn Batmobile is also a Goddamn Delorean]]:²--->'''Linkara:''' "[[WritersCannotDoMath Fifteen hours ago]]". That means one of two things. Clark Kent either drank this carton of milk fifteen hours before [[OverlyLongGag Dick Grayson, age 12]], was kidnapped by Batman, and thus it is a magical prescient carton of milk, OR it's actually been a long enough ride in the Batmobile for Dick to have been reported missing, for his name to get to the missing persons groups, for them to submit his information to the milk company, for the milk company to print the cartons, distribute the cartons, and then for Clark Kent to go to the grocery store and buy the carton of milk. Let's see, by my rough estimate, that means that Batman and Dick have been on the way to the Batcave for, oh, about FIVE FUCKING WEEKS now.²** A lot of these issues come up. The series goes over two or three nights, depending on how you look at it, yet Miller seems to forget this since the books took so long to come out. Especially in issue nine. Batman arranges a meeting with Hal Jordan 'in twelve hours' in issue eight; yet in issue nine, Batman is reminiscing about multiple training sessions and Dick Grayson, age 12, being in the cave with him for weeks. Also, apparently an entire clinic was bribed, Dick made a press conference and then they could paint an entire apartment yellow with "nearly an hour to spare" before Jordan arrived for his meeting twelve hours since issue eight.²** This is probably because Frank Miller is utilizing non-linear storytelling. Sometimes it's hard to keep track of all the "11 hours earlier" in the same issue. (Also, it's downright impossible to tell if "11 hours ago" means 11 hours before the previous scene which was "5 hours ago" or 11 hours before ''now'' - whenever "now" is. Which makes you wonder the point of all the hopping around in the first place, as it only serves to confuse things.²--->'''[[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]]:''' WHAT TIME IS IT?!²* UnusualEuphemism and InherentlyFunnyWords: Black Canary is called ''lovechunks.''²* WhatTheHellHero: Both Robin and The Green Lantern call out Batman for his Bat-shit crazy behavior. Ironically, Batman also gets to call out Robin when Robin [[spoiler:crushes Green Lantern's throat]].²* WhoAreYou: The second issue included this [[MemeticMutation memetic]] exchange (which effectively set the tone for the series as a whole):²-->'''Dick Grayson, [[RunningGag Age 12]]:''' Who the hell are you anyway, giving out orders like this?\²'''Batman:''' What are you, ''dense''? Are you ''retarded'' or something? Who the hell do you ''think'' I am? I'm the Goddamn ''Batman''.²* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: Batman fantasizes about what he could do with Green Lantern's ring - force everyone to think ''his'' way. God help us.²* WrongGenreSavvy: Poor Superman and Green Lantern are oblivious to the fact that they're in a [[CreatorBreakdown post-9/11 Frank Miller]] comic. Because of this, [[HeroicComedicSociopath the Goddamn Batman]] can easily manipulate them both.²----²²-->''"A rotten joint; it sits there like something that came out of the back end of a horse."''\²''"[[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Which is precisely where this script came from, too.]]"''

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